Fostering professional responsibility through high-quality professional learning opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Shannon Larsen ◽  
Kelly McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Professional Responsibility ◽  
High Quality

scholarly journals A social-cognitive study of Indonesian Google educator groups

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pratiwi Artati
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Technological Environment ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Education Groups

<p>Self-directed professional learning is distinct from the traditional approach of directed professional development. The introduction of the Internet into Indonesian society provides the opportunity for teachers to use digital tools for their teaching and to access professional learning without attending mandated professional development. An emerging phenomenon in Indonesia is the establishment and use of Google Education Groups (GEGs) for professional learning about the use of educational technology (ed-tech) in the schooling sector. Two research questions guided the examination of Indonesian educators’ experiences of GEGs: (1) how do Indonesian educators participate in the GEGs for ed-tech professional learning? and (2) how do the GEGs function to enable Indonesian educators’ ed-tech professional learning? Collective case study methodology was applied, and three Google Education Groups were examined, one from a metropolitan area, one from an urban area and the third from a rural context. In each case study, the leader of the group and three group members with varying levels of online engagement were interviewed and online forum conversations were examined. Data were analysed using Stake’s method of categorical aggregation leading to within-case assertions and cross-case analysis. A social cognitive perspective was used as a framework to analyse and interpret findings. It was found that the Indonesian educators had an agentic approach to professional learning, which was context-dependent with three major interrelated aspects: the regional-technological environment as context, the individuals as agentic learners, and the connectedness as social learners enabled meaningful learning experiences. The regional-technological environment influenced how the GEGs functioned. The Metropolitan group was innovative and collaborative, focusing on the use of web-based tools to improve productivity of ed-tech practices. The Urban group aimed to explore how they could use web-based tools to improve efficiency through paperless classroom practices and school administration. The Rural group sought to use of web-based tools for simple teaching and learning practices within a context of low bandwidth and limited ICT infrastructure. In addition, certain conditions that support online collaboration and factors that can minimise and optimise ed-tech learning opportunities are identified. Participants overcame limitations and constraints by enacting agency and developing social connectedness in learning through the groups. The group leadership positions were voluntary and found to be driven by a desire to share expertise and practices that support, inspire, and empower others rather than about gaining positional authority. Participation in online informal groups such as Google Education Groups appears to be a supportive method of professional learning that facilitates agentic and experiential learning about the use of educational technology in Indonesia. This model can enhance professional learning opportunities for Indonesian educators. It can also be implemented into the design of government-supported ed-tech PD programmes, to create an empowering and safe learning environment that can optimise their potential in learning and improve practice.</p>

The Australian Curriculum

2015 ◽  
pp. 161-180
Author(s):  
Karyn Carson ◽  
Peter Walker
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Diverse Learners ◽  
Comprehensive Assessment ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Australian Curriculum ◽  
Curriculum Assessment ◽  
Starting Point

A distinct synergy exists between pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and reporting. The implementation of the new Australian Curriculum F-10 (henceforth abbreviated as “Australian Curriculum”) has provided both opportunities and challenges for ensuring that the needs of diverse learners are strongly addressed within inclusive education settings. This chapter illuminates specific issues related to the comprehensive assessment of diverse learners including national inconsistencies in the provision of accommodations, the use of the general capabilities as a starting point rather than a curriculum adjustment point, and the paucity of resources and professional learning opportunities supporting inclusive assessment practices. Recommendations are provided to demonstrate how educators can achieve effective student-centred assessment practices for diverse learners using the Australian Curriculum across and within different contexts.

Jailbreak your PD

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (8) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Lauren Porosoff
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Contextual Behavioral Science

Educator Lauren Porosoff discovered the value of contextual behavioral science by accident, when accompanying her psychologist husband at a professional conference. Additional study of the subject convinced her of its benefits to educators and students — and showed her the value of study outside her field. She encourages educators to seek out professional learning opportunities in fields other than education and suggests how educators can make the most of such learning.

On Leadership: Planning for equity

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-61
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Starr
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Curriculum Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School System ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Hiring Practices ◽  
School Based ◽  
Improvement Planning ◽  
System Leaders

Every year, school-based teams all over the country engage in the ritual known as improvement planning. In theory, the process is designed to identify low-performing students and specify plans for raising their achievement. In practice, though, improvement planning tends to be an empty exercise in compliance, in which school teams aim to do little more than fill out the required paperwork. If school system leaders are truly committed to providing all students with equitable learning opportunities, argues Joshua Starr, they need to focus the improvement planning process on things that actually matter to student achievement, such as budgeting decisions, hiring practices, curriculum development, professional learning, discipline reform, and community engagement.

Research-Based Distance Learning Services in the Northern Pacific

2011 ◽  
pp. 1779-1785
Author(s):  
Steve Baxendale
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Northern Pacific ◽  
Developed World

In the developed world, lifelong learning is considered necessary in the fields of education and health. Webbased technologies are used to update skills and provide access to the latest research and information. Asynchronous, synchronous, and self-paced open-learning courses provide professionals with the ability to meet the continuing education requirements for maintaining their credentials without taking them away from the workplace. They are accepted as an effective means of providing information on the latest instructional strategies, medical research, and procedures. The remoteness of the Pacific region presents significant challenges to providing high-quality, interactive, distance education. These geographic, economic, cultural, linguistic, professional, and technological challenges require creativity and flexibility in the design of courses and in instructional methods. This article explores the experiences of educators in providing distance-learning opportunities throughout the region between 1998 and 2006.

Focusing on Teacher Learning Opportunities to Identify Potentially Productive Coaching Activities

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynsey K. Gibbons ◽  
Paul Cobb
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Instructional Coaching ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Improve Instruction ◽  
Support Teacher ◽  
Coaching Activities ◽  
Mathematics And Science Teachers ◽  
Mathematics And Science

Instructional improvement initiatives in many districts include instructional coaching as a primary form of job-embedded support for teachers. However, the coaching literature provides little guidance about what activities coaches should engage in with teachers to improve instruction. When researchers do propose activities, they rarely justify why those activities might support teacher learning. Drawing on the preservice and inservice teacher education literatures, we present a conceptual analysis of learning activities that have the potential to support mathematics and science teachers to improve practice. We argue that our analysis can inform research on mathematics and science coaching, coaching policies, and the design of professional learning for coaches.

School-Based Professional Development Programs for Beginning Teachers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Madalińska-Michalak
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
High Quality ◽  
School Based

School-based professional development for beginning teachers must be seen as a dynamic identity and decision-making process. Teachers as lifelong learners from the beginning of their career should be able to engage in different forms of teacher education that enable them to progress their learning and development in ways that are relevant to their own individual needs and the needs of their schools and pupils. Teacher individual professional learning is necessary but not sufficient for sustainable change within groups in school and within school as an organization. It is helpful to consider three elements. First, note the importance to schools of recruiting and developing high-quality teachers. Teachers are among the most significant factors in children’s learning and the quality school education, and the questions why and how teachers matter and how teacher quality and quality teacher education should be perceived require serious considerations from academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Second, understand teacher education as career-long education, and problematize the issue of teachers and coherent professional development within schools, asking key questions including the following: “how do schools create effective opportunities for teachers to learn and develop?” Third, focus on the particular journey and the needs of beginning teachers because their early career learning and development will have an impact on retention of high-quality teachers. It is important that coherent lifelong professional education for teachers is planned and implemented at the level of education systems, individual schools, teaching teams, and individual teachers.

scholarly journals From Fragmented Practice to Rich Professional Learning: The Collaborative Work of Teachers of Learners With Deafblindness

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Sensory Loss ◽  
Professional Collaboration ◽  
School Professionals ◽  
Dual Sensory Loss ◽  
Academic Year

In this study, school professionals provided a rich context for understanding how collaboration can lead to learning when educating a child with deafblindness. Analysis of the collaboration of five professionals during an academic year showed that although they thought it was critical that they learn from each other, only one sub-set engaged in ways that led to rich learning opportunities. The findings from this study suggest that professional collaboration and learning, which is a hallmark of supporting learners with dual sensory loss, may be elusive even when it is a valued and mandated practice. In addition, professional learning more readily occurs when teachers are open to educating all children yet are also focused on how to best teach children with deafblindness.

Re-imagining the nature of (student-focused) learning through digital technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Hood
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Education System ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
High Quality

Digital technology is frequently positioned as being central to the establishment of a ‘future focused’ education system that provides high quality student-focused learning opportunities and re-envisioned educational outcomes. While recognising the potential of technology, this paper explores some of the questions about its role in education and learning – in particular, how technology addresses issues of equity and social justice; what it means to design educational and learning experiences that are truly student-focused; and the potential for technology to dehumanise the learning process. The paper concludes with some considerations of how to integrate digital technology effectively into an education system.

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